


Delicate

by Toomanyfandoms99



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:37:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomanyfandoms99/pseuds/Toomanyfandoms99
Summary: If this was how Nate was going to die, at least it was a cool way to go.Maybe his parents were right about his condition after all.  He was made of glass.And there was a very real possibility that he was going to shatter.





	Delicate

**Author's Note:**

> The title was taken from the song of the same name by Taylor Swift. Enjoy!

For the entirety of Nathaniel Heywood’s life, he was treated like glass.

His haemophilia made everyone handle him delicately, as if they were waiting for him to shatter into a million pieces.

Nate got tired of this tiptoeing behavior very quickly.

As a result of this, Nate treated everyone with disdain, mostly keeping to himself.

He didn’t need friends. He had Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones didn’t treat him like a glass animal to be dusted and admired from afar.

Indiana Jones was cool, calm, collected. He was what Nate aspired to be.

And the fact that Indiana Jones was a historian and archaeologist was pretty cool too.

————

Nate loved history class. The world was interesting. It’s what made him want to be a historian.

What Nate hadn’t expected was to become a part of history.

A Legend.

————

It didn’t take long for Nate to become obsessed with Ray Palmer.

There was something about Ray that was endlessly fascinating to Nate.

Was it his ridiculously good looks? His genius? His unfailing kindness? His sunny disposition? The fact that Ray was literally a ray of sunshine at all times?

Everything about Ray Palmer seemed to be too good to be true.

But it was true.

He was pretty much perfect. And Nate knew about Ray’s faults. How Ray needlessly blamed himself when things went wrong, how he never thought he was good enough, never smart enough, never brave enough, never powerful enough.

Ray thought he was far from perfect.

And that — Nate thought — is what made Ray Palmer perfect in the first place.

————

Nate hid his haemophilia from the team because he didn’t want to be a burden.

But, as he was dying from a bullet wound, a burden is exactly what he became.

————

Nate knew that his crush had gotten out of hand.

But wouldn’t it, now that his crush had saved his life and given him steel powers?

So yeah, Nate wasn’t surprised that he had developed true feelings for Ray Palmer, the epitome of all that was good in the world.

————

For weeks and weeks, Nate stuck to his predetermined script — the historian fumbling through life with his new powers — and helped eagerly on missions with the team.

Anything to distract him from his feelings for Ray, without letting Ray know that anything had changed in their friendship.

It was getting to be a real delicate balance.

He knew that on one side of the seesaw was his friendship with Ray, and on the other side was his unmistakable feelings for Ray.

He would rather be with Ray than without him.

So he chose friendship.

————

Nate got so used to his pent up feelings after a few months that it became a constant companion.

Like a dog that followed him around everywhere he went. 

Or a fifty-pound weight chained to his ankles, always trailing behind his every footfall.

Nate — like he did when he first got his powers, before he really started to feel in control of them, in control of his own body again — adapted to the added baggage of falling for his best friend and carried it around like an invisible purse.

He knew that nothing would ever come of it, anyway. He could handle this.

————

Ever since Nate first stopped a train with his steel powers, he would notice Ray give him little looks sometimes.

He couldn’t figure out what they meant. Ray was already so complex on the inside — due to how poorly others have treated him in the past — that Nate didn’t give these looks much thought.

They often varied in infinitesimal ways — something that Nate couldn’t even begin to describe — and always disappeared after about three seconds.

Nate thought that he must be imagining some of them. Once he became more confident in his abilities and a reliable foot soldier for the team, Nate saw these little looks more often.

Nate simply looked at his hefty invisible suitcase — labelled Feelings for Ray Palmer — and dismissed any inappropriate thoughts.

————

It took another few months for dwarf star — Nate’s unbeatable kryptonite — to resurface on a mission.

And it took only seconds for Nate’s carefully constructed self-confidence to fall apart like a shoddy illusion as he was hit in the shoulder with dwarf star alloy.

The shock of it — the excruciating pain of it after so long — almost didn’t make the moment feel real.

Nate realized suddenly that he had collapsed, and couldn’t hear or see a thing.

————

Nate woke up in the med bay of the Waverider, wondering why he wasn’t dead.

His haemophilia should have killed him for sure.

Suddenly, Ray entered his vision.

Nate felt a lump in his throat at the sight of him.

Ray’s eyes were bloodshot, his usually perfect hair in disarray, his complexion a few shades paler, his clothes rumpled.

Ray was a complete mess. Was it because of Nate?

Nate didn’t want to know the answer.

“Hey,” Nate said neutrally.

“Hey,” Ray huffed out, preoccupied with checking the medical equipment.

Nate kept his tone light. “Why aren’t I dead?”

Ray’s eyebrows furrowed, his expression unreadable. “Why would you think you were going to die?”

Ray’s voice was so raw, so soft, that Nate almost didn’t hear it. 

Calm down, Nate. Ray just cares about you, as friends are wont to do.

Nate swallowed. “My haemophilia...the dwarf star...why wouldn’t I die with a lethal combination like that?”

Ray finally looked at Nate. Ray said, “I saved you.”

Nate felt the image of Ray injecting him with powers burn behind his eyelids.

Of course Ray would save him.

Nate glanced down at the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and under his arm. He muttered, “thanks, Ray.”

Ray nodded. “You’re welcome.” A pause. “We can’t have team members dying, now can we?”

Nate snorted. “It would be bad PR.”

They didn’t even have PR. What are you doing, Nate? 

Ray smiled for the first time since Nate woke up, brightening up his pale face. “It would,” he agreed.

Calm down Nate, this is fine. This isn’t flirting.

Nate cleared his throat. “So when can I get outta here?”

Ray answered, “in an hour, I promise. You have to keep that bandage on for a few days, though.”

Nate sighed, Ray rolling his eyes at the expected response.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll be right back.” Ray left the med bay almost hastily.

Nate’s emotions were really getting out of hand.

————

A yoga instructor and a heart surgeon. 

Nate was a freaking yoga instructor?

And Ray was a heart surgeon?

Nate’s imagination went on overdrive for weeks after that mission.

In this other world, did they know each other? Were they friends?

Were they in love?

Were they everything he wanted to be with his version of Ray?

They were questions that could never be answered, and consequently, always on Nate’s mind.

————

When Nate had to stop a train for the second time, the circumstances were incredibly different.

The first time, Nate only had two witnesses, one of them being Ray. And that train was an old timey locomotive, much simpler to stop on the tracks.

Now, Nate had the entire team counting on him. The team was surprised that he could even stop a train, and that he volunteered to tempt fate and do it again.

Only this train was twice as long and twenty times heavier and thirty times faster.

If this was how Nate was going to die, at least it was a cool way to go.

Maybe his parents were right about his condition after all. He was made of glass.

And there was a very real possibility that he was going to shatter.

————

Nate was on the train tracks. The train would be coming any minute now.

The team was talking through his earpiece, but he had drowned out the noise a few minutes ago.

They were trying to reassure him, but Nate wasn’t listening. No amount of reassurance could help his fragile state of mind right now.

He was a fragile man made of steel.

Oh, the irony.

That’s when he heard Ray’s voice through his earpiece.

“Nate, can you hear me?” Ray asked, clear as a bell.

His Feelings for Ray Palmer suitcase materialized next to him on the train tracks. 

Nate didn’t need this right now. 

“Yes,” Nate said, keeping his tone even.

“I can tell you’re freaking out right now,” Ray said softly. “Take a breath, okay?”

Nate took a breath, some of his nerves dissipating. He shook his arms a little once he heard the train coming.

Thirty seconds.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Ray said. 

For a second, Nate believed him.

And a second was all he needed to gather his courage and activate his steel powers.

Nate planted his feet and held out his arms as the train came at him.

He shut his eyes, the impact enough to shatter Nate into pieces.

But he kept his position, destroying a full mile of tracks until the train stopped.

Nate opened his eyes, dust and dirt all around him and the halted train. He sighed in relief, sitting on the tracks and taking deep breaths. He felt his steel skin disappear. He briefly heard the team cheering in his earpiece.

Nate laid on the tracks, wanting to curl up and go to sleep.

Stopping a train faster than a bullet really put a strain on his powers. 

Nate tore out his earpiece, focusing on the dust particles and the clear sky.

He wasn’t dead.

He thought his heart would stop.

But no, his heart was still beating, if a bit erratically at the moment.

That was probably one of the scariest things he’d ever done. And he needed a few minutes to comprehend that.

Nate calmed himself, putting his singular focus on the impossibly blue atmosphere. He waited patiently for his breath and heartbeat to even out. 

As he tilted his head, he noticed a white daisy peeking out from the destroyed train tracks. Nate found his hand reaching out to it before he could think about the silliness of it. Nate carefully removed the daisy from its confines, the stem breaking neatly. Nate held the tiny flower up to the sunlight.

Before Nate could figure out what his mind was trying to tell him, he heard the faint sound of flying boots.

Ray entered Nate’s vision in the ATOM suit, staring down at him in confusion.

Nate clutched the white daisy to his chest, staring back up at Ray, whose head was blocking the sun.

“Yeah?” Nate asked. “What’s up?”

That only seemed to make Ray more confused. “Why did you take out your earpiece?”

Nate glanced at the earpiece a few inches to his right. “I needed a minute,” he huffed out.

Ray’s been staring at him a long time, Nate realized absentmindedly. He focused on the white daisy. He couldn’t deal with his Feelings for Ray Palmer suitcase right now.

Ray suddenly sat next to Nate, his suit whining in protest. He removed his helmet, setting it on his opposite side.

Nate watched the motions curiously, his mind startled at their proximity. 

Nate doesn’t think Ray’s ever been this close to him before.

He swallowed, watching Ray’s jaw clench and unclench, as if he was considering something important. Nate’s fingers worried around the white daisy’s stem, watching the petals move with the almost imperceptible breeze.

When Nate regarded Ray again after a moment, he noticed that Ray was observing him closely. 

Their eyes met, and Ray said cautiously, “while we have a minute...I wanted to...talk to you about something.”

Nate’s mind went a million miles per hour, wondering about all the possibilities that could follow such an ominous sentence. Before any of these thoughts became fully formed, Nate shut them down.

Nate looked into Ray’s big brown eyes and asked evenly, “what is it?”

When Ray looked at him, — so scared and so serious — Nate sat up, their bodies approximately two inches away. Nate let go of the daisy, placing it next to his earpiece, and looked at Ray with his undivided attention.

Ray looked at him with trepidation. “Okay, I’m just gonna say it.” A pause. “I think of you as...more than a friend.”

More than a friend more than a friend more than a friend…

Nate’s eyes widened, Ray babbling incessantly due to Nate not speaking.

When Nate smiled, Ray stopped talking, as if the sight of it calmed him.

Nate said softly, “I feel the same way.”

Nate could see the weight of doubt being lifted off of Ray’s shoulders. Ray gave him his signature megawatt smile, his eyes sparkling. “Really?” Ray asked, almost in disbelief.

“Really,” Nate replied, his heart soaring, because holy shit, Ray had feelings for him too and they were going to be together and-

Ray leaned forward, stopping half an inch away from Nate. Ray glanced down at Nate’s lips. “Can I-”

“Yes,” Nate breathed.

The press of Ray’s lips against his were soft, Nate kissing back with a little more force. They kept the kiss chaste, a few seconds of warmth and sweetness enveloping them.

When they pulled away, they both grinned like idiots.

That’s when Nate heard the volume of his earpiece get turned all the way up.

Sara said angrily through the earpiece, “Nate! Ray! I don’t know what you guys are doing, but you need to get back here right now! We have a job to do! Let’s go!”

Nate sighed, Ray chuckling at the interruption.

Nate was glad they got to kiss first.

He glanced back at Ray, his eyes telling Nate that they were on the same page.

Nate blushed a little, securing his earpiece and getting back on mission.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
